Bradford: the good, the bad

The Vikings didn't waste much time trying to move on from Teddy Bridgewater's devastating knee injury, announcing Saturday — four days after Bridgewater went down for the year — that they had traded for Sam Bradford. It's potentially more than a stopgap measure, and it's potentially one that restores the Vikings' lofty aspirations in the short term. Just what are the Vikings getting in Bradford, who will turn 29 on Election Day? Here are five things to know about him:

1 He was the No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma in 2010. Quarterbacks have been chosen No. 1 overall 13 times in the past 20 drafts. Bradford probably falls somewhere in the middle of those selections — nowhere near a bust like JaMarcus Russell (2007) and nowhere near a first-ballot Hall of Famer like Peyton Manning (1998).

He's one of eight No. 1 overall QB picks who figure to start at least the majority of his team's games this season if healthy. The other seven: Carson Palmer, Eli Manning, Alex Smith, Matthew Stafford, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and Jameis Winston. That's pretty good company.

2 The scariest part of this trade from a Vikings standpoint is that Bradford has had his own injury problems. He had a shoulder injury that limited him to three games in his final college season. After a strong rookie year in which he started all 16 games, he missed six games because of an ankle sprain in his second season, 2011.

He tore his left anterior cruciate ligament midway through the 2013 season and retore it in the 2014 preseason, causing him to miss 25 regular-season games. And he missed two games last season with the Eagles because of injuries. That's 33 missed games in his first six seasons in the NFL — more than one-third of the possible games.

3 Overall, though, Bradford was pretty good in 2015 with the Eagles. He started 14 games and threw for 3,725 yards while completing 65 percent of his passes. Pro Football Focus had him graded as the No. 12 QB in the NFL (one spot ahead of Bridgewater). PFF also noted that Bradford led the NFL in adjusted completion percentage vs. pressure.

4 Bradford has a two-year contract, which could mean a lot of things. It's tough not to speculate that it could mean the Vikings fear Bridgewater won't be ready in 2017. At the very least, it means they have a viable option this year and beyond.

5 The knock on Bradford is inconsistency, and playing in yet another offensive system will be an interesting adjustment. Still, what Vikings fans should expect — assuming of course that Bradford stays healthy — is a quarterback who is good on short passes and is surprisingly accurate on deep throws.

The bottom line is the Vikings have given themselves a chance to be contenders, but a lot has to go right with Bradford for that to be the case. Then again, the same could have been said for late replacements in 1998 (Randall Cunningham) and 2009 (Brett Favre). If this season is anything like those (minus, you know, the crushing NFC title game heartbreak), this trade will have been more than worth it.

Michael Rand is the Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer. In 20 years covering Minnesota sports at the Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything.